Siege of Dunkirk, with Alleyn the Pirate

Charles Massey (1603)


Historical Records

Payments to Playwrights (Henslowe's Diary)


F. 109v (Greg i.174)

Lent vnto Edward Jube the 7 of marche 1602
to geue vnto Charles masseye in earneste of
a playe called the sedge of doncerke wth
alleys the pyrete the some of … } xxxxs



Theatrical Provenance

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Probable Genre(s)

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Possible Narrative and Dramatic Sources or Analogues

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References to the Play

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Critical Commentary

Greg questioned whether Massey was the author or perhaps the author's agent; he was equally skeptical of the idea (apparently Hazlitt's) that the tag phrase, "with Alleyn the Pirate," indicated a leading role for Edward Alleyn (Greg II.228, Item 257)

Wiggins puzzles over the curiosity that there was a relatively contemporary siege at Ostend c. 1603 but not one at Dunkirk (#1401). He offers a Dunkirk siege in 1600, during which "the Dutch besiegers were assisted by an English regiment under Sir Francis Vere" (#1401). Speaking more generally, Wiggins notes that Dunkirk, a Spanish bastion, "was a base for piracy" and that in 1603 "the Privy Council was levying money to equip a naval force to protect English merchant shipping: (#1401). Wiggins considers the name Alleyn to indicate a pirate-character who "may have been a traitor or a defector," not Alleyn the player (#1401). Wiggins mentions two plays, If it Be Not Good, the Devil is In It and Northwest Ho! that allude to Dunkirk and/or imperiled English shipping.

For What It's Worth

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Works Cited

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